Read Online The Impossible Alliance by Candace Irvin - Free Book Online

reached up and smoothed the tears from her cheeks.
    â€œI swear, I never—” She sealed her shame with a violent, shuddering hiccup.
    â€œI know. I told you, it’s the aftereffects of the coma.” He pulled her close and guided her head to his shoulder, stroking his hands up and down her back as she continued to sob for all she was worth, drenching the inky strands of his hair along with the wool sweater beneath. “Shh. It’s okay. The anger, the crying jags, the mood swings. They’re normal, I promise. They’ll pass.”
    Eventually they did. At least this one did. Unfortunately, by that time she managed to pull herself together, the shamehad set in. She tried backing away, but his arms stopped her.
    â€œDon’t.”
    She flinched as he tucked her hair behind her ear. She was simply too raw to prevent it. “ Please. Let me go.”
    â€œNo.” His fingers slipped beneath her chin. “Look at me.”
    Why? It was too dark.
    Except it wasn’t. Not this close. Not anymore. The blanket of clouds had thinned even more, spreading apart to leave a generous three-quarter moon and a broad swath of stars behind. The twinkling lights studded the canopy of the pine forest, allowing her to make out that tawny gaze with painful perfection. She didn’t want to see it. To see him. And she certainly didn’t want him seeing her. Not like this. She’d hadn’t felt this exposed in her entire life. In less than two hours, under the obscuring cover of night, this man had managed to see far too much.
    God only knew what he’d see in the harsh light of day.
    â€œAre you okay now?”
    Not by a long shot. “Yes. Will you please release me?”
    He did.
    They both breathed easier.
    She stepped away from the pile of gear as he hunkered down, fully aware that she was affording herself room, rather than him. He dug through his ruck and pulled out a dark T-shirt. Before she could stop him, he’d stripped the sweater from his chest and he held it out.
    â€œPut it on. We’ve got a decent hike ahead of us.”
    â€œNo, you keep it. Since you’ve read my file, you know I did my grad work in Colorado. I doubt I’ll even notice the cold.”
    â€œYou’ve also been in a coma for three weeks. Trust me, you’ll notice.”
    Three weeks? Just like that, the vertigo returned. She swallowed the nausea that came with it. “That long?”
    He nodded…and held out the sweater.
    This time she took it. Evidently he was right about the mood swings, because she couldn’t muster the brazenness she’d ridden earlier as she’d stripped the prosthetic from her chest in front of him. She left the filthy shirt tied beneath her breasts and pulled the thick turtleneck on over it. His tantalizing scent swirled through her, suffocating her. Worse, the sweater still carried his heat.
    Ignore it.
    Somehow she managed—until she glanced up and caught the glimmer of moonlight slipping across that seriously sculpted, dangerously dusky chest. A moment later the rippling muscles disappeared beneath the T-shirt. Disappointment warred with relief as he tucked the hem into his jeans, then leaned down to repack his rucksack. But at least her lungs had kicked in. She breathed deeply as she pushed up the sweater’s sleeves.
    Shock yanked the air right back out.
    Blood?
    She raised her right arm and fingered the damp stitching again, the raw edges of the rip. She leaned closer, this time sniffing the knit fabric, and cursed.
    â€œYou were shot.”
    He nodded as leaned down to tuck his jumpsuit into the ruck. “Grazed.”
    â€œLet me take a look.”
    â€œI already did.” Before she could argue, he reached into his first-aid kit and pulled out another cravat. He flipped the green fabric over itself and wrapped the resulting triangle around his right biceps as he stood. “But you can tie it off for me.”
    Alex